1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to measurement instruments. More particularly, this invention relates to real-time data display in a control window of a measurement instrument.
2. Background
Various measurement instruments including oscilloscopes are known in the art. Measurement instruments are used in a wide variety of applications, such as measuring engine vibrations, measuring electronic device voltages, measuring brain waves, etc. Historically, measurement instruments are analog devices, however, increasingly measurement systems are constituted with digital components. Furthermore, increasingly graphical user interfaces (GlTIs) are being employed to assist users in control and operation of the instruments.
One way to provide user-control of a measurement instrument which uses a GUI is to provide user-selectable options through a dialog box. A dialog box is, generally, an additional "control" window corresponding to a particular one or more software applications, the purpose of which is to provide user-selectable control options. Such options can be "button" or "hot-spot" selectable areas, menu items, check boxes, command line input areas, etc. However, dialog boxes often cover up a large portion of the measurement instrument's display device, which are typically relatively small, thereby preventing a user from seeing his or her data in the underlying application. This covering up of data by dialog boxes is particularly troublesome with measurement instruments because these instruments typically provide real-time data to the user, and it is the parameters that control the acquisition of that real-time data that are being adjusted through the dialog box.
Thus, an improved dialog box interface for measurement instruments is needed. As will be discussed in more detail below, the present invention achieves these and other desirable results.